Cylinderblock

cylinder block is an integrated structure comprising the cylinder(s) of a reciprocating engine and
often some or all of their associated surrounding structures (coolant passages, intake and exhaust
passages and ports, and crankcase). The term engine block is often used synonymously with
"cylinder block" (although technically distinctions can be made between en bloc cylinders as a
discrete unit versus engine block designs with yet more integration that comprise the crankcase as
well).
In the basic terms of machine elements, the various main parts of an engine (such as
cylinder(s), cylinder head(s), coolant passages, intake and exhaust passages, and crankcase) are
conceptually distinct, and these concepts can all be instantiated as discrete pieces that are bolted
together. Such construction was very widespread in the early decades of the commercialization
of internal combustion engines (1880s to 1920s), and it is still sometimes used in certain applications
where it remains advantageous (especially very large engines, but also some small engines).
However, it is no longer the normal way of building most petrol engines and diesel engines, because
for any given engine configuration, there are more efficient ways of designing for manufacture(and
also for maintenance and repair). These generally involve integrating multiple machine elements into
one discrete part, and doing the making (such ascasting, stamping, and machining) for multiple
elements in one setup with one machine coordinate system (of a machine tool or other piece of
manufacturing machinery). This yields lower unit cost of production (and/or maintenance and repair).
Today most engines for cars, trucks, buses, tractors, and so on are built with fairly highly integrated
design, so the words "monobloc" and "en bloc" are seldom used in describing them; such construction
is often implicit. Thus "engine block", "cylinder block", or simply "block" are the terms likely to be heard
in the garage or on the street.

Cylinder head
In an internal combustion engine, the cylinder head (often informally abbreviated to just head) sits
above the cylinders on top of the cylinder block. It closes in the top of the cylinder, forming
the combustion chamber. This joint is sealed by a head gasket. In most engines, the head also
provides space for the passages that feed air and fuel to the cylinder, and that allow the exhaust to
escape. The head can also be a place to mount the valves, spark plugs, and fuel injectors.
In a flathead or sidevalve engine, the mechanical parts of the valve train are all contained within the
block, and the head is essentially a metal plate bolted to the top of the block; this simplification avoids
the use of moving parts in the head and eases manufacture and repair, and accounts for the flathead
engine's early success in production automobiles and continued success in small engines, such as
lawnmowers. This design, however, requires the incoming air toflow through a convoluted path, which
limits the ability of the engine to perform at higher revolutions per minute (rpm), leading to the
adoption of the overhead valve (OHV) head design, and the subsequent overhead camshaft (OHC)
design.

Cylinder head gasket

A head gasket is a gasket that sits between the engine block and cylinder head in an internal
combustion engine. Its purpose is to seal the cylinders to ensure maximum compression and avoid
leakage of coolant or engine oil into the cylinders; as such, it is the most critical sealing application in
any engine, and, as part of the combustion chamber, it shares the same strength requirements as
other combustion chamber components.[1]

crankcase

In an internal combustion engine of the reciprocating type, the crankcase is the housing for
the crankshaft. The enclosure forms the largest cavity in the engine and is located below
the cylinder(s), which in a multicylinder engine are usually integrated into one or several cylinder
blocks. Crankcases have often been discrete parts, but more often they are integral with the cylinder
bank(s), forming an engine block. Nevertheless, the area around the crankshaft is still usually called
the crankcase. Crankcases and other basic engine structural components (e.g., cylinders, cylinder
blocks, cylinder heads, and integrated combinations thereof) are typically made of cast iron or cast
aluminium via sand casting. Today the foundry processes are usually highly automated, with a few
skilled workers to manage the casting of thousands of parts.
A crankcase often has an opening in the bottom to which an oil pan is attached with a gasketed bolted
joint. Some crankcase designs fully surround the crank's main bearing journals, whereas many others
form only one half, with a bearing cap forming the other. Some crankcase areas require no structural
strength from the oil pan itself (in which case the oil pan is typically stamped from sheet steel),
whereas other crankcase designs do (in which case the oil pan is a casting in its own right). Both the
crankcase and any rigid cast oil pan often have reinforcing ribs cast into them, as well
as bosses which are drilledand tapped to receive mounting screws/bolts for various other engine
parts.
Besides protecting the crankshaft and connecting rods from foreign objects, the crankcase serves
other functions, depending on engine type. These include keeping the motor oil contained,

usually hermetically or nearly hermetically (and in the hermetic variety, allowing the oil to be
pressurized); providing the rigid structure with which to join the engine to the transmission; and in
some cases, even constituting part of the frame of the vehicle (such as in many farmtractors).

oilpan

Another example is the oil pan of an engine. The oil is used to lubricate the engine's moving parts and
it pools in a reservoir, known as a sump, at the bottom of the engine. Use of a sump requires the
engine to be mounted slightly higher to make space for it. Often though, oil in the sump can surge
during hard cornering starving the oil pump. For these reasons racing and piston aircraft engines are
"dry sumped" using scavenge pumps and a swirl tank to separate oil from air which is also sucked up
by the pumps.[2]
A sump can also be found in an aquarium, mainly a reef system. The sump sits below the
main tank and is used as a filter, as well as a holding place of unsightly equipment such
as heaters andprotein skimmers. The main advantage of having a sump plumbed into an aquarium is
the increase of water in the system, making it more stable and less prone to fluctuations
of pH and salinity.
A diving snorkel can have a sump section located below the mouthpiece. This allows excess moisture
from the breath and liquid from the ocean to settle and remain in the sump, so that it does not impair
the snorkeler's breathing.
In a nuclear power plant's reactor housing, the role of the sump will be to collect any overflow of
primary loop coolant; in this case, monitoring and pumping of the sump is an important part of the
reactor's safety system.
The equivalent of a sump on a boat is the bilge.
In the human eye, the vitreous humour has a minor role as a metabolic sump[3].

piston
A piston is a component of reciprocating engines, reciprocating pumps, gas
compressors and pneumatic cylinders, among other similar mechanisms. It is the moving component
that is contained by a cylinder and is made gas-tight by piston rings. In an engine, its purpose is to
transfer force from expanding gas in the cylinder to the crankshaft via a piston rod and/or connecting
rod. In a pump, the function is reversed and force is transferred from the crankshaft to the piston for
the purpose of compressing or ejecting the fluid in the cylinder. In some engines, the piston also acts
as a valve by covering and uncovering ports in the cylinder wall.

Combustion chamber
Internal combustion engine

Diagram of jet engine showing the combustion chamber.

The hot gases produced by the combustion occupy a far greater volume than the original fuel, thus
creating an increase in pressure within the limited volume of the chamber. This pressure can be used
to do work, for example, to move a piston on a crankshaft or a turbine disc in a gas turbine. The
energy can also be used to produce thrust when directed out of a nozzle as in a rocket engine.
[edit]Petrol

or gasoline engine

A reciprocating engine is often designed so that the moving pistons are flush with the top of
the cylinder block at top dead centre. The combustion chamber is recessed in the cylinder head and
commonly contains a single intake valve and a single exhaust valve. Some engines use a dished
piston and in this case the combustion chamber can be considered as partly within the cylinder.
Various shapes of combustion chamber have been used, such as L-head (or flathead) for side-valve
engines;"bathtub", "hemispherical" and "wedge" for overhead valve engines; and "pent-roof" for
engines having 3, 4 or 5 valves per cylinder. The shape of the chamber has a marked effect on power
output, efficiency and emissions; the designer's objectives are to burn all of the mixture as completely
as possible while avoiding excessive temperatures (which create NOx). This is best achieved with a
compact rather than elongated chamber. The intake valve/port is usually placed to give the mixture a
pronounced "swirl" (the term is preferred to turbulence which implies movement without overall
pattern) above the rising piston, improving mixing and combustion. The shape of the piston top also
affects the amount of swirl. Note that swirl rotates about a horizontal axis, not (symmetrically) about a
vertical axis. Finally, the spark plug must be situated in a position from which the flame front can reach
all parts of the chamber at the desired point, usually around 15 degrees after top dead centre. It is
strongly desirable to avoid narrow crevices where stagnant "end gas" can become trapped, as this
tends to detonate violently after the main charge, adding little useful work and potentially damaging
the engine. Also, the residual gases displace room for fresh air/fuel mixture and will thus reduce the
power potential of each firing stroke.
[edit]Diesel

engine

Diesel engines fall into two broad classes:

Direct injection, where the combustion chamber consists of a dished piston

Indirect injection, where the combustion chamber is in the cylinder head

Direct injection engines usually give better fuel economy but indirect injection engines can use a lower
grade of fuel.
Harry Ricardo was prominent in developing combustion chambers for diesel engines, the best
known[note 1] being the Ricardo Comet.
[edit]Gas

turbine

Main article: Combustor

The combustion chamber in gas turbines and jet engines (including ramjets and scramjets) is called
the combustor.
The combustor is fed high pressure air by the compression system, adds fuel and burns the mix and
feeds the hot, high pressure exhaust into the turbine components of the engine or out the exhaust
nozzle.
Different types of combustors exist, mainly:

Can type: Can combustors are self contained cylindrical combustion chambers. Each "can"
has its own fuel injector, liner,interconnectors,casing. Each "can" get an air source from individual
opening.

Cannular type: Like the can type combustor, can annular combustors have discrete
combustion zones contained in separate liners with their own fuel injectors. Unlike the can
combustor, all the combustion zones share a common air casing.

Annular type: Annular combustors do away with the separate combustion zones and simply
have a continuous liner and casing in a ring (the annulus).

Steam engine
The term combustion chamber is also used to refer to an additional space between
the firebox and boiler in a steam locomotive. This space is used to allow further combustion of the
fuel, providing greater heat to the boiler.
Large steam locomotives usually have a combustion chamber in the boiler to allow the use of
shorter firetubes. This is because:

Long firetubes have a theoretical advantage in providing a large heating surface but, beyond
a certain length, this is subject to diminishing returns.

Very long firetubes are prone to sagging in the middle.

pisonrings

A piston ring is a split ring that fits into a groove on the outer diameter of a piston in a reciprocating
engine such as an internal combustion engine orsteam engine.
The three main functions of piston rings in reciprocating engines are :
1. Sealing the combustion/expansion chamber.
2. Supporting heat transfer from the piston to the cylinder wall.
3. Regulating engine oil consumption.[1][1]
The gap in the piston ring compresses to a few thousandths of an inch when inside the cylinder bore.

History

The split piston ring was invented by John Ramsbottom who reported the benefits to the Institution of
Mechanical Engineers in 1854. It soon replaced the hemp packing hitherto used in steam engines.
[2]
The use of piston rings at once dramatically reduced the frictional resistance, the leakage of steam,
and the mass of the piston, leading to significant increases in power and efficiency and longer
maintenance intervals.
[edit]Automotive
Most automotive pistons have three rings: The top two while also controlling oil are primarily for
compression sealing (compression rings); the lower ring is for controlling the supply of oil to the liner
which lubricates the piston skirt and the compression rings (oil control rings). At least two piston rings
are found on most piston and cylinder combination. Typical compression ring designs will have an
essentially rectangular cross section or a keystone cross section. The periphery will then have either a
barrel profile (top compression rings) or a taper napier form (second compression rings or scraper
rings). There are some taper faced top rings and on some old engines simple plain faced rings were
used.
Oil control rings typically are of three types:
1. single piece cast iron
2. helical spring backed cast iron or steel
3. multipiece steel
The spring backed oil rings and the cast iron oil rings have essentially the same range of peripheral
forms which consist of two scraping lands of various detailed form. The multipiece oil control rings
usually consist of two rails or segments (these are thin steel rings) with a spacer expander spring
which keeps the two rails apart and provides the radial load.
The piston might be a fairly loose fit in the cylinder. If it were a tight fit, it would expand as it got hot
and might stick tight in the cylinder. If a piston sticks (seizes) it could cause serious damage to the
engine. On the other hand, if there is too much clearance between the piston and cylinder walls, much
of the pressure from the burning gasoline vapour will leak past the piston (a condition known as blowby) and into the crankcase, and the push on the piston from combustion will be much less effective in
delivering power.
[edit]Wear

due to ring load on the bore

Piston rings are subject to wear as they move up and down the cylinder bore due to their own inherent
load and due to the gas load acting on the ring. To minimize this, they are made of wear-resistant
materials, such as cast iron and steel, and are coated or treated to enhance the wear resistance. Twostroke port design is critical to ring life. Newer modern motorcycle manufacturers have many single
function but serrated ports to retain the ring. Typically, top ring and oil control rings will be coated
with Chromium,[3] or Nitrided,[4] possibly plasma sprayed [5] or have a PVD (physical vapour deposit)
[6]
ceramic coating. For enhanced scuff resistance and further improved wear, most modern diesel
engines have top rings coated with a modified chromium coating known as CKS [3] or GDC,[3] a patent
coating from Goetze which has aluminium oxide or diamond particles respectively included in the
chrome surface. The lower oil control ring is designed to leave a lubricating oil film, a few micrometres
thick on the bore, as the piston descends. Three piece oil rings, i.e. with two rails and one spacer, are
used for four-stroke gasoline engines.

[edit]Fitting

new piston rings

When fitting new piston rings or breaking them in within an engine, the end gap is a crucial
measurement. In order that a ring may be fitted into the "grooves" of the piston, it is not continuous
but is broken at one point on its circumference. The ring gap may be checked by putting the ring into
the bore/liner (squared to bore) and measuring with a feeler gauge. End gap should be within
recommended limits for size of bore and intended "load" of engine. Metals expand with a rise in
temperature, so too small a gap may result in overlapping or bending when used under hot running
conditions (racing, heavy loads, towing) and, even at normal temperatures, a small ring gap may lead
to ring gap closure, ring breakage, bore damage and possible seizure of the piston. Too large a gap
may give unacceptable compression and levels of blow-by gasses or oil consumption. When being
measured in a used bore, it may indicate excessive bore wear or ring wear. (Radial wear on ring face
reduces thickness of used/worn ring (face wear in bore) essentially decreasing face circumference of
ring and thereby increasing size of ring end gap.)
It is considered good practice to build a new engine with the ring gaps staggered around the
circumference of the bore. This means that any escaping gas must negotiate a labyrinth before
escaping past the rings. However, while the engine is running, the rings will tend to rotate around the
piston and not remain in the position as fitted. Many rings will then stick in one spot at random and
remain there for the life of the engine. For this reason, ring position during build cannot be considered
to be important although most engine builders would feel uncomfortable assembling an engine with
the gaps aligned.
When fitting new rings to a used engine, special "ridge dodger" rings are sometimes used for the top
compression ring, to improve compression and oil consumption without reboring the cylinder. These
have a small step of iron removed from the top section to avoid making contact with any wear ridge at
the top of the cylinder, which could break a conventional ring. These are not widely recommended,
however, as they are usually not required and may give inferior oil consumption. A more acceptable
method is to remove the wear ridge with a "ridge reamer" tool before lightly honing the bore to accept
new rings. In fact, if the "ridge " is measured it will generally be apparent it is not really a ridge but a
relatively local hollow caused by the top ring near the ring reversal point. The upper edge of this
hollow will take the form of a "ramp" about 2mm long from the point of maximum wear to the point of
zero wear. In this case, there is not actually any ridge to hit, so light honing may be all that is required.
During engine assembly, a piston-ring compressor is used to evenly squeeze the rings long enough to
slide the piston into the cylinder.
Rings are not a very expensive part, but fitting new ones is usually very costly. This is because to fit
them, the mechanic must essentially take the whole engine apart. Therefore the labour costs are the
major factor. Once going that far, one might as well correct many other problems found inside - so
fitting new rings is usually done as part of an entire engine rebuild/reconditioning.

piston pin

In internal combustion engines, the gudgeon pin (UK, wrist pin US) is that which connects
the piston to the connecting rod and provides a bearing for the connecting rod to pivot upon as the
piston moves.[1] In very early engine designs (including those driven by steam and also many very
large stationary or marine engines), the gudgeon pin is located in a sliding crosshead that connects to
the piston via a rod.

The gudgeon pin is typically a forged short hollow rod made of a steel alloy of high strength
and hardness that may be physically separated from both the connecting rod and piston or
crosshead.[1] The design of the gudgeon pin, especially in the case of small, high-revving automotive
engines is challenging. The gudgeon pin has to operate under some of the highest temperatures
experienced in the engine, with difficulties in lubrication due to its location, while remaining small and
light so as to fit into the piston diameter and not unduly add to the reciprocating mass. The
requirements for lightness and compactness demand a small diameter rod that is subject to
heavy shear and bending loads, with some of the highest pressure loadings of any bearing in the
whole engine. To overcome these problems, the materials used to make the gudgeon pin and the way
it is manufactured are amongst the most highly engineered of any mechanical component found in
internal combustion engines.[citation needed]
[edit]Design

options

Gudgeon pins use two broad design configurations: semi-floating and fully floating. [1] In the semifloating configuration, the pin is usually fixed relative to the piston by an interference fit with
the journal in the piston. (This replaced the earlier set screw method.[2]) The connecting rod small
end bearing thus acts as the bearing alone. In this configuration, only the small end bearing requires a
bearing surface, if any. If needed, this is provided by either electroplating the small end bearing
journal with a suitable metal, or more usually by inserting a sleeve bearing or needle bearing into the
eye of the small end, which has an interference fit with the aperture of the small end. During overhaul,
it is usually possible to replace this bearing sleeve if it is badly worn. The reverse configuration, fixing
the gudgeon pin to the connecting rod instead of to the piston, is implemented using an interference fit
with the small end eye instead, with the gudgeon pin journals in the piston functioning as bearings.
[3]
This arrangement is usually more difficult to manufacture and service because two bearing surfaces
or inserted sleeves complicate the design. In addition, the pin must be precisely set so that the small
end eye is central. Because of thermal expansion considerations, this arrangement was more usual
for single-cylinder engines as opposed to multiple cylinder engines with long cylinder blocks and
crankcases, until precision manufacturing became more commonplace.
In the fully floating configuration, a bearing surface is created both between the small end eye and
gudgeon pin and the journal in the piston. The gudgeon pins are usually secured with circlips.[3] No
interference fit is used in any instance and the pin 'floats' entirely on bearing surfaces. The average
rubbing speed of each of the three bearings is halved and the load is shared across a bearing that is
usually about three times the length of the semi-floating design with an interference fit with the piston.
In internal combustion engines, the gudgeon pin (UK, wrist pin US) is that which connects
the piston to the connecting rod and provides a bearing for the connecting rod to pivot upon as the
piston moves.[1] In very early engine designs (including those driven by steam and also many very
large stationary or marine engines), the gudgeon pin is located in a sliding crosshead that connects to
the piston via a rod.
The gudgeon pin is typically a forged short hollow rod made of a steel alloy of high strength
and hardness that may be physically separated from both the connecting rod and piston or
crosshead.[1] The design of the gudgeon pin, especially in the case of small, high-revving automotive
engines is challenging. The gudgeon pin has to operate under some of the highest temperatures
experienced in the engine, with difficulties in lubrication due to its location, while remaining small and
light so as to fit into the piston diameter and not unduly add to the reciprocating mass. The

requirements for lightness and compactness demand a small diameter rod that is subject to
heavy shear and bending loads, with some of the highest pressure loadings of any bearing in the
whole engine. To overcome these problems, the materials used to make the gudgeon pin and the way
it is manufactured are amongst the most highly engineered of any mechanical component found in
internal combustion engines.[citation needed]

connectingrod

In a reciprocating piston engine, the connecting rod or conrod connects the piston to
the crank or crankshaft. Together with the crank, they form a simple mechanism that converts linear
motion into rotating motion.
Connecting rods may also convert rotating motion into linear motion. Historically, before the
development of engines, they were first used in this way.
As a connecting rod is rigid, it may transmit either a push or a pull and so the rod may rotate the crank
through both halves of a revolution, i.e. piston pushing and piston pulling. Earlier mechanisms, such
as chains, could only pull. In a few two-stroke engines, the connecting rod is only required to push.
Today, connecting rods are best known through their use in internal combustion piston engines, such
as car engines. These are of a distinctly different design from earlier forms of connecting rods, used in
steam engines and steam locomotives.

Internal combustion engines

Failure of a connecting rod is one of the most common causes of catastrophic engine failure.

In modern automotive internal combustion engines, the connecting rods are most usually made
of steel for production engines, but can be made of T6-2024 and T651-7075 aluminum alloys [citation
needed]
(for lightness and the ability to absorb high impact at the expense of durability) or titanium (for a
combination of lightness with strength, at higher cost) for high performance engines, or of cast iron for
applications such as motor scooters. They are not rigidly fixed at either end, so that the angle
between the connecting rod and the piston can change as the rod moves up and down and rotates
around the crankshaft. Connecting rods, especially in racing engines, may be called "billet" rods, if
they are machined out of a solid billet of metal, rather than being cast.
The small end attaches to the piston pin, gudgeon pin or wrist pin, which is currently most often press
fit into the connecting rod but can swivel in the piston, a "floating wrist pin" design. The big
end connects to the bearing journal on the crank throw, in most engines running on

replaceable bearing shells accessible via the connecting rod bolts which hold the bearing "cap" onto
the big end. Typically there is a pinhole bored through the bearing and the big end of the connecting
rod so that pressurized lubricating motor oil squirts out onto the thrust side of the cylinder wall to
lubricate the travel of the pistons and piston rings. Most small two-stroke engines and some single
cylinder four-stroke engines avoid the need for a pumped lubrication system by using a rollingelement bearing instead, however this requires the crankshaft to be pressed apart and then back
together in order to replace a connecting rod.
The connecting rod is under tremendous stress from the reciprocating load represented by the piston,
actually stretching and being compressed with every rotation, and the load increases to the square of
the engine speed increase. Failure of a connecting rod, usually called "throwing a rod" is one of the
most common causes of catastrophic engine failure in cars, frequently putting the broken rod through
the side of the crankcase and thereby rendering the engine irreparable; it can result from fatigue near
a physical defect in the rod, lubrication failure in a bearing due to faulty maintenance, or from failure of
the rod bolts from a defect, improper tightening. Re-use of rod bolts is a common practice as long as
the bolts meet manufacturer specifications. Despite their frequent occurrence on televised competitive
automobile events, such failures are quite rare on production cars during normal daily driving. This is
because production auto parts have a much larger factor of safety, and often more systematic quality
control.
When building a high performance engine, great attention is paid to the connecting rods,
eliminating stress risers by such techniques as grinding the edges of the rod to a smooth radius, shot
peeningto induce compressive surface stresses (to prevent crack initiation), balancing all connecting
rod/piston assemblies to the same weight and Magnafluxing to reveal otherwise invisible small cracks
which would cause the rod to fail under stress. In addition, great care is taken to torque the
connecting rod bolts to the exact value specified; often these bolts must be replaced rather than
reused. The big end of the rod is fabricated as a unit and cut or cracked in two to establish precision
fit around the big end bearing shell. Therefore, the big end "caps" are not interchangeable between
connecting rods, and when rebuilding an engine, care must be taken to ensure that the caps of the
different connecting rods are not mixed up. Both the connecting rod and its bearing cap are usually
embossed with the corresponding position number in the engine block.
Recent engines such as the Ford 4.6 liter engine and the Chrysler 2.0 liter engine, have connecting
rods made using powder metallurgy, which allows more precise control of size and weight with less
machining and less excess mass to be machined off for balancing. The cap is then separated from
the rod by a fracturing process, which results in an uneven mating surface due to the grain of the
powdered metal. This ensures that upon reassembly, the cap will be perfectly positioned with respect
to the rod, compared to the minor misalignments which can occur if the mating surfaces are both flat.
A major source of engine wear is the sideways force exerted on the piston through the connecting rod
by the crankshaft, which typically wears the cylinder into an oval cross-section rather than circular,
making it impossible for piston rings to correctly seal against the cylinder walls. Geometrically, it can
be seen that longer connecting rods will reduce the amount of this sideways force, and therefore lead
to longer engine life. However, for a given engine block, the sum of the length of the connecting rod
plus the piston stroke is a fixed number, determined by the fixed distance between the crankshaft axis
and the top of the cylinder block where the cylinder head fastens; thus, for a given cylinder block
longer stroke, giving greater engine displacement and power, requires a shorter connecting rod (or a
piston with smaller compression height), resulting in accelerated cylinder wear.
[edit]Compound

rods

Articulated connecting rods

Many-cylinder multi-bank engines such as a V12 layout have little space available for many
connecting rod journals on a limited length of crankshaft. This is a difficult compromise to solve and its
consequence has often led to engines being regarded as failures (Sunbeam Arab, Rolls-Royce
Vulture).
The simplest solution, almost universal in road car engines, is to use simple rods where cylinders from
both banks share a journal. This requires the rod bearings to be narrower, increasing bearing load
and the risk of failure in a high-performance engine. This also means the opposing cylinders are not
exactly in line with each other.
In certain engine types, master/slave rods are used rather than the simple type shown in the picture
above. The master rod carries one or more ring pins to which are bolted the much smaller big ends of
slave rods on other cylinders. Certain designs of V engines use a master/slave rod for each pair of
opposite cylinders. A drawback of this is that the stroke of the subsidiary rod is slightly shorter than the
master, which increases vibration in a vee engine, catastrophically so for the Sunbeam Arab.

BMW 132 radial aero engine rods

Radial engines typically have a master rod for one cylinder and multiple slave rods for all the other
cylinders in the same bank.

Fork and blade rods

The usual solution for high-performance aero-engines is a "forked" connecting rod. One rod is split in
two at the big end and the other is thinned to fit into this fork. The journal is still shared between
cylinders. The Rolls-Royce Merlin used this "fork-and-blade" style.

crank

shaft

The crankshaft, sometimes casually abbreviated to crank, is the part of an engine which
translates reciprocating linear piston motion into rotation. To convert the reciprocating motion into
rotation, the crankshaft has "crank throws" or "crankpins", additional bearing surfaces whose axis is
offset from that of the crank, to which the "big ends" of the connecting rods from each cylinder attach.
It typically connects to a flywheel, to reduce the pulsation characteristic of the four-stroke cycle, and
sometimes a torsional or vibrational damper at the opposite end, to reduce the torsion vibrations often
caused along the length of the crankshaft by the cylinders farthest from the output end acting on the
torsional elasticity of the metal.

flywheel
A flywheel is a rotating mechanical device that is used to store rotational energy. Flywheels have a
significant moment of inertia, and thus resist changes in rotational speed. The amount of energy
stored in a flywheel is proportional to the square of its rotational speed. Energy is transferred to a
flywheel by applyingtorque to it, thereby causing its rotational speed, and hence its stored energy, to
increase. Conversely, a flywheel releases stored energy by applying torque to a mechanical load,
which results in decreased rotational speed.
Flywheels have three predominant uses:[citation needed]

They provide continuous energy when the energy source is not continuous. For example,
flywheels are used in reciprocating engines because the energy source (torque from the engine)
is not continuously available.

They deliver energy at rates beyond the ability of an energy source. This is achieved by
collecting energy in the flywheel over time and then releasing the energy quickly, at rates that
exceed the capabilities of the energy source.

They control the orientation of a mechanical system. In such applications, the angular
momentum of a flywheel is purposely transferred to a load when energy is transferred to or from
the flywheel.

Flywheels are typically made of steel and rotate on conventional bearings; these are generally limited
to a revolution rate of a few thousand RPM.[citation needed] Some modern flywheels are made of carbon
fiber materials and employ magnetic bearings, enabling them to revolve at speeds up to 60,000 RPM.

Flywheels are often used to provide continuous energy in systems where the energy source is not
continuous. In such cases, the flywheel stores energy when torque is applied by the energy source,

and it releases stored energy when the energy source is not applying torque to it. For example, a
flywheel is used to maintain constant angular velocity of the crankshaft in a reciprocating engine. In
this case, the flywheelwhich is mounted on the crankshaftstores energy when torque is exerted
on it by a firing piston, and it releases energy to its mechanical loads when no piston is exerting
torque on it. Another example of this is friction motors, which use flywheel energy to power devices
such as toy cars.
A flywheel may also be used to supply unsustained pulses of energy at energy transfer rates that
exceed the capabilities of its energy source, or when such pulses would disrupt the energy supply
(e.g., public electric network). This is achieved by accumulating stored energy in the flywheel over a
period of time, at a rate that is compatible with the energy source, and then releasing that energy at a
much higher rate over a relatively short time. For example, flywheels are used in punching machines
and riveting machines, where they store energy from the motor and release it during the punching or
riveting operation.

The phenomenon of precession has to be considered when using flywheels in vehicles. A rotating
flywheel responds to any momentum that tends to change the direction of its axis of rotation by a
resulting precession rotation. A vehicle with a vertical-axis flywheel would experience a lateral
momentum when passing the top of a hill or the bottom of a valley (roll momentum in response to a
pitch change). Two counter-rotating flywheels may be needed to eliminate this effect. This effect is
leveraged in momentum wheels, a type of flywheel employed in satellites in which the flywheel is used
to orient the satellite's instruments without thruster rockets.

camshaft

In internal combustion engines with pistons, the camshaft is used to operate poppet valves. It then
consists of a cylindrical rod running the length of the cylinder bank with a number of
oblong lobesprotruding from it, one for each valve. The cams force the valves open by pressing on the
valve, or on some intermediate mechanism as they rotate.
[edit]Automotive
[edit]Material
Camshafts can be made out of several different types of material. These include:
Chilled iron castings: this is a good choice for high volume production. A chilled iron camshaft has a
resistance against wear because the camshaft lobes have been chilled, generally making them
harder. When making chilled iron castings, other elements are added to the iron before casting to
make the material more suitable for its application.
Billet Steel: When a high quality camshaft is required, engine builders and camshaft manufacturers
choose to make the camshaft from steel billet. This method is also used for low volume production.
This is a much more time consuming process, and is generally more expensive than other methods.

However the finished product is far superior. When making the camshaft, CNC lathes, CNC milling
machines and CNC camshaft grinders will be used. Different types of steel bar can be used, one
example being EN40b. When manufacturing a camshaft from EN40b, the camshaft will also be heat
treated via gas nitriding, which changes the micro-structure of the material. It gives a surface
hardness of 55-60 HRC. These types of camshafts can be used in high-performance engines.
[edit]Timing

A camshaft

The relationship between the rotation of the camshaft and the rotation of the crankshaft is of critical
importance. Since the valves control the flow of the air/fuel mixture intake and exhaust gases, they
must be opened and closed at the appropriate time during the stroke of the piston. For this reason,
the camshaft is connected to the crankshaft either directly, via a gear mechanism, or indirectly via a
belt or chain called a timing belt or timing chain. Direct drive using gears is unusual because the
frequently reversing torque caused by the slope of the cams tends to quickly wear out gear teeth.
Where gears are used, they tend to be made from resilient fibre rather than metal, except in racing
engines that have a high maintenance routine. Fibre gears have a short life span and must be
replaced regularly, much like a cam belt. In some designs the camshaft also drives thedistributor and

the oil and fuel pumps. Some vehicles may have the power steering pump driven by the camshaft.
With some early fuel injection systems, cams on the camshaft would operate the fuel injectors.
An alternative used in the early days of OHC engines was to drive the camshaft(s) via a vertical shaft
with bevel gears at each end. This system was, for example, used on the preWW1 Peugeot and Mercedes Grand Prix cars. Another option was to use a triple eccentric with
connecting rods; these were used on certain W.O. Bentley-designed engines and also on the Leyland
Eight.
In a two-stroke engine that uses a camshaft, each valve is opened once for each rotation of the
crankshaft; in these engines, the camshaft rotates at the same speed as the crankshaft. In a fourstroke engine, the valves are opened only half as often; thus, two full rotations of the crankshaft occur
for each rotation of the camshaft.
The timing of the camshaft can be advanced to produce better low RPM torque, or retarded for better
high RPM power. Either of these moves the overall power produced by the engine down or up the
RPM scale respectively. The amount of change is very little (usually < 5 deg), and affects valve to
piston clearances.
[edit]Duration
Duration is the number of crankshaft degrees of engine rotation during which the valve is off the seat.
As a generality, greater duration results in more horsepower. The RPM at which peak horsepower
occurs is typically increased as duration increases at the expense of lower rpm efficiency (torque).
[citation needed]

Duration can often be confusing because manufacturers may select any lift point to advertise a
camshaft's duration and sometimes will manipulate these numbers. The power and idle characteristics
of a camshaft rated at .006" will be much different than one rated the same at .002".
Many performance engine builders gauge a race profile's aggressiveness by looking at the duration at
.020", .050" and .200". The .020" number determines how responsive the motor will be and how much
low end torque the motor will make. The .050" number is used to estimate where peak power will
occur, and the .200" number gives an estimate of the power potential.
A secondary effect of increase duration is increasing overlap, which is the number of crankshaft
degrees during which both intake and exhaust valves are off their seats. It is overlap which most
affects idle quality, inasmuch as the "blow-through" of the intake charge which occurs during overlap
reduces engine efficiency, and is greatest during low RPM operation. In reality, increasing a
camshaft's duration typically increases the overlap event, unless one spreads lobe centers between
intake and exhaust valve lobe profiles.
[edit]Lift
The camshaft "lift" is the resultant net rise of the valve from its seat. The further the valve rises from
its seat the more airflow can be realised, which is generally more beneficial. Greater lift has some
limitations. Firstly, the lift is limited by the increased proximity of the valve head to the piston crown
and secondly greater effort is required to move the valve's springs to higher state of compression.
Increased lift can also be limited by lobe clearance in the cylinder head construction, so higher lobes

may not necessarily clear the framework of the cylinder head casing. Higher valve lift can have the
same effect as increased duration where valve overlap is less desirable.
Higher lift allows accurate timing of airflow; although even by allowing a larger volume of air to pass in
the relatively larger opening, the brevity of the typical duration with a higher lift cam results in less
airflow than with a cam with lower lift but more duration, all else being equal. On forced induction
motors this higher lift could yield better results than longer duration, particularly on the intake side.
Notably though, higher lift has more potential problems than increased duration, in particular as valve
train rpm rises which can result in more inefficient running or loss of torque.
Cams that have too high a resultant valve lift, and at high rpm, can result in what is called "valve
bounce", where the valve spring tension is insufficient to keep the valve following the cam at its apex.
This could also be as a result of a very steep rise of the lobe and short duration, where the valve is
effectively shot off the end of the cam rather than have the valve follow the cams profile. This is
typically what happens on a motor over rev. This is an occasion where the engine rpm exceeds the
engine maximum design speed. The valve train is typically the limiting factor in determining the
maximum rpm the engine can maintain either for a prolonged period or temporarily. Sometimes an
over rev can cause engine failure where the valve stems become bent as a result of colliding with the
piston crowns.
[edit]Position
Depending on the location of the camshaft, the cams operate the valves either directly or through a
linkage of pushrods and rockers. Direct operation involves a simpler mechanism and leads to fewer
failures, but requires the camshaft to be positioned at the top of the cylinders. In the past when
engines were not as reliable as today this was seen as too much bother, but in modern gasoline
engines the overhead cam system, where the camshaft is on top of the cylinder head, is quite
common.
[edit]Number of camshafts
Main articles: overhead valve and overhead cam
While today some cheaper engines rely on a single camshaft per cylinder bank, which is known as
a single overhead camshaft (SOHC), most[quantify] modern engine designs (the overhead-valve or
OHV engine being largely obsolete on passenger vehicles), are driven by a two camshafts per
cylinder bank arrangement (one camshaft for the intake valves and another for the exhaust valves);
such camshaft arrangement is known as a double or dual overhead cam (DOHC), thus, a V engine,
which has two separate cylinder banks, may have four camshafts (colloquially known as a quad-cam
engine[6]).
More unusual is the modern W engine (also known as a 'VV' engine to distinguish itself from the prewar W engines) that has four cylinder banks arranged in a "W" pattern with two pairs narrowly
arranged with a 15-degree separation. Even when there are four cylinder banks (that would normally
require a total of eight individual camshafts), the narrow-angle design allows the use of just four
camshafts in total. For the Bugatti Veyron, which has a 16-cylinder W engine configuration, all the four
camshafts are driving a total of 64 valves.

The overhead camshaft design adds more valvetrain components that ultimately incur in more
complexity and higher manufacturing costs, but this is easily offset by many advantages over the
older OHV design: multi-valve design, higher RPM limit and design freedom to better place valves,
ignition (Spark-ignition engine) and intake/exhaust ports.
[edit]Maintenance
The rockers or cam followers sometimes incorporate a mechanism to adjust and set the
valve play through manual adjustment, but most modern auto engines have hydraulic lifters,
eliminating the need to adjust the valve lash at regular intervals as the valvetrain wears, and in
particular the valves and valve seats in the combustion chamber.
Sliding friction between the surface of the cam and the cam follower which rides upon it is
considerable. In order to reduce wear at this point, the cam and follower are both surface hardened,
and modern lubricant motor oils contain additives specifically to reduce sliding friction. The lobes of
the camshaft are usually slightly tapered, causing the cam followers or valve lifters to rotate slightly
with each depression, and helping to distribute wear on the parts. The surfaces of the cam and
follower are designed to "wear in" together, and therefore when either is replaced, the other should be
as well to prevent excessive rapid wear. In some engines, the flat contact surfaces are replaced with
rollers, which eliminate the sliding friction and wear but adds mass to the valvetrain.

compression ratio

The 'compression ratio' of an internal-combustion engine or external combustion engine is a value

that represents the ratio of the volume of its combustion chamber from its largest capacity to its
smallest capacity. It is a fundamental specification for many common combustion engines.
In a piston engine it is the ratio between the volume of the cylinder and combustion chamber when
the piston is at the bottom of its stroke, and the volume of the combustion chamber when the piston is
at the top of its stroke.[1]
Picture a cylinder and its combustion chamber with the piston at the bottom of its stroke containing
1000 cc of air (900 cc in the cylinder plus 100 cc in the combustion chamber). When the piston has
moved up to the top of its stroke inside the cylinder, and the remaining volume inside the head or
combustion chamber has been reduced to 100 cc, then the compression ratio would be proportionally
described as 1000:100, or with fractional reduction, a 10:1 compression ratio.
A high compression ratio is desirable because it allows an engine to extract more mechanical energy
from a given mass of air-fuel mixture due to its higher thermal efficiency.[citation needed] High ratios place
the available oxygen and fuel molecules into a reduced space along with the adiabatic heat of
compressioncausing better mixing and evaporation of the fuel droplets. [citation needed] Thus they allow
increased power at the moment of ignition and the extraction of more useful work from that power by
expanding the hot gas to a greater degree.[citation needed]

Higher compression ratios will however make gasoline engines subject to engine knocking if lower
octane-rated fuel is used, also known as detonation. This can reduce efficiency or damage the engine
if knock sensors are not present to retard the timing. However, knock sensors have been a
requirement of the OBD-II specification used in 1996 model year vehicles and newer.
Diesel engines on the other hand operate on the principle of compression ignition, so that a fuel which
resists autoignition will cause late ignition which will also lead to engine knock.

volumetric efficiency

Volumetric efficiency in internal combustion engine design refers to the efficiency with which the
engine can move the charge into and out of the cylinders. More specifically, volumetric efficiency is a
ratio (or percentage) of what quantity of fuel and air actually enters the cylinder during induction to the
actual capacity of the cylinder under static conditions. Therefore, those engines that can create higher
induction manifold pressures - above ambient - will have efficiencies greater than 100%. Volumetric
efficiencies can be improved in a number of ways, but most notably the size of the valve openings
compared to the volume of the cylinder and streamlining the ports. Engines with higher volumetric
efficiency will generally be able to run at higher speeds (commonly measured in RPM) and produce
more overall power due to less parasitic power loss moving air in and out of the engine.
There are several standard ways to improve volumetric efficiency. A common approach for
manufacturers is to use larger valves or multiple valves. Larger valves increase flow but weigh more.
Multi-valve engines combine two or more smaller valves with areas greater than a single, large valve
while having less weight, but with added complexity. Carefully streamlining the ports increases flow
capability. This is referred to as porting and is done with the aid of an air flow bench for testing.
Another major aspect of design is to use a crossflow cylinder head, which has become the standard
configuration in modern engines.
Many high performance cars use carefully arranged air intakes and tuned exhaust systems to push air
into and out of the cylinders, making use of the resonance of the system. Two-stroke enginestake this
concept even further with expansion chambers that return the escaping air-fuel mixture back to the
cylinder. A more modern technique, variable valve timing, attempts to address changes in volumetric
efficiency with changes in speed of the engine: at higher speeds the engine needs the valves open for
a greater percentage of the cycle time to move the charge in and out of the engine.
Volumetric efficiencies above 100% can be reached by using forced induction such
as supercharging or turbocharging. With proper tuning, volumetric efficiencies above 100% can also
be reached bynaturally aspirated engines. The limit for naturally aspirated engines is about 137%;
[1]
these engines are typically of a DOHC layout with four valves per cylinder.
More "radical" solutions include the sleeve valve design, in which the valves are replaced outright with
a rotating sleeve around the piston, or alternately a rotating sleeve under the cylinder head. In this
system the ports can be as large as necessary, up to that of the entire cylinder wall. However there is
a practical upper limit due to the strength of the sleeve, at larger sizes the pressure inside the cylinder
can "pop" the sleeve if the port is too large.

Volumetric Efficiency is frequently abbreviated as "VE" when discussing engine efficiency.

Volumetric efficiency in a hydraulic pump refers to the percentage of actual fluid flow out of the
pump compared to the flow out of the pump without leakage. In other words, if the flow out of a 100cc
pump is 92cc (per revolution), then the volumetric efficiency is 92%. The volumetric efficiency will
change with the pressure and speed a pump is operated at, therefore when comparing volumetric
efficiencies, the pressure and speed information must be available. When a single number is given for
volumetric efficiency, it will typically be at the rated pressure and speed.

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